Jennifer Briggs

Sarah has been doing more food preparation on her own. Last weekend she fixed herself a hot dog and hot chocolate and frosted a cake pop for herself. She also single handedly carried her Cozy Coupe inside (that is the small plastic car that a kid can drive). Unfortunately, we have finally met the moment… Read more »

“If you stick the pencil in your ear I won’t get you the polka dot fabric when we get home.” That is true. For all of you! Originally I said it to Sarah during her piano lesson. There have been a small handful of times this week when I have really yelled at Sarah (though… Read more »

Sunday night as I made dinner I could hear the girls reading Elephant and Piggie books together. I didn’t get a picture because I didn’t want to interrupt the moment. When they needed a new book they pretended to go to the library. When Sarah came home from school Monday she went upstairs. A few… Read more »

Carl and Sarah played No Stress Chess. It is designed to teach you the rules of chess as you play without it feeling difficult. They played half a game before she wanted to do something else. We have had a wonderful time with The Cat Game. It claims to be for people age 16 and… Read more »

We had a wonderful trip to Philly and Delaware to visit lots of family. Here are some other highlights of our time… For part of our time we were in a hotel and the girls loved the pool and the elevators. This was a much larger hotel than we have ever been in, with more… Read more »

“I love my mom so much!” Sarah told her sitter Tuesday night before bed. This is not a usual utterance to come from her. A few hours later she had a seizure, the first since she was 8 weeks old. That made her statement all the more poignant. Later, as she recovered from the seizure and sat… Read more »

I so appreciate your validation and support of me as a parent and your assurances that I’m a good one. It helps. And most of the time I may even agree that I’m a good parent. But. (My mom can attest that I am extremely skilled in “yes, but…”) There are the times that no… Read more »

I’ve been struggling a bit lately with my parenting. I’ve had these times before and they are no fun. I hate feeling like everyone would be better off if I just hired a sitter to take my place. I feel like every time I say something it is either ignored or the opposite is willfully… Read more »

This week has had some profoundly wonderful moments and some extraordinarily horrible moments. The headaches have been the horrible ones. Thursday night was one of the worst nights of my life. It was not only the intense pain. It was that after 1 1/2 hours of intense pain I felt adrift in panic and despair,… Read more »

I marvel at where we are sometimes. I marvel as I watch Sarah listen to her piano teacher, watching what K. does, and doing her best to do the same. I marvel as I watch Sarah play with Amy, engaging ever more in what might be labelled normal play. I marvel, not because these moments… Read more »